Igorotang Explorer (IgorotaOnTheMove)

WOW Philippines: Pagsanjan Falls

2013-03-24T02:16:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered why the Pagsanjan Falls was very famous? Aside from Ma. Cristina Falls, this was the only falls I can remember that was written in my elementary textbooks. Haha.

When my dormmates wanted to go out with just Php1000.00 budget, I had to do my research on the best place that our Php1000.00 can bring us. Thanks to the many blogs out there, I was able to discover that we can see famous Pagsanjan Falls for less than a thousand pesos. And so, more research was done on how to get there.

For those who would like to experience the famous falls, here is a suggested itinerary via DLTB Bus in Buendia-Taft with the actual expenses based on experience:

Pagsanjan Expenses

Please note that as of our visit, March 23, 2013, the Balanac Bridge was still not done. So we had to ride a ramp from the Pagsanjan Central Boatman Station. Please be careful when you are there since a lot of boatmen would be offering to take you to the falls through their boat - that costs Php1,250 per person! Just politely decline their offer and say that you are just there to cross the river.

The raft to cross the river

After crossing the river, walk directly towards the main road and ride the jeepney to Cavinti. Ask the driver to drop you off at the junction going to Pueblo. From there, ride a tricycle and ask to be dropped to Pueblo. Ask for the driver's number to be able to text him to fetch you when you're back from the falls. On the way to Pueblo, you will pass by a man-made falls - Bumbungan Falls. You may ask the tricycle driver to bring you there after your Pagsanjan falls adventure.

Bumbungan Falls

In Pueblo, head straight to the registration booth and pay the Php 270.00 which includes the guides, safety harness and raft to the cave behind the falls.

Welcome to Pueblo El Salvador!

The hike down the falls is a bit tiring but fun since you will see a lot of what nature has to offer and we have a glimpse of the Nakulo Falls.

Trail to the falls

Glimpse of Nakulo Falls

It's a beautiful day

The trail to the falls is composed mostly of walking down metal stairs and passing through 2 vertical metal stairs where you can either choose to climb down or to "rappel" down.

One of the long stairways to the falls

The first vertical ladder

Experiencing the vertical ladder

The tired feeling will be gone once you see the falls. Don't forget to take pictures before riding the ramp to go behind the falls.

Since you can't bring your camera with you, ask your tour guide to take pictures. Give just him the exact instructions.

Posing muna

The the way to the cave

Once inside the cave, spend some time there and just enjoy the moment.

Pixes inside the cave

After the fun moments, be ready to climb back to Pueblo. :-)

In Pueblo, you can either take a shower and change clothes or ask your tricycle driver to bring you to Bumbungan Eco Park where you can swim and take pictures and have a shower before heading back to Manila.

Bumbungan Falls

This will be the end of the trip. Just ask your tricycle driver to bring you to jeep that will bring you back to the bridge.

TIPS:
1. Before starting your trek, ask you guide to take pictures of you, examine the shots and if the shots are not good, explain to the guide on how to use your camera. The guide should master taking good pictures while you're on your ways to the falls to have great pictures when you are already there.
2. Try to visit after April 1, 2013 to be able to experience their underground river tour. The lady at the registration booth said that the new attraction of their place would be opened by the 1st of April.
3. Bring your own lunch. You can eat at the cottage in Pueblo before your descent.
4. You can leave your extra clothes and other stuff at the registration office. Just bring your valuables and of-course, your camera.
5. Bring enough water since the trek will be tiring. Also bring some trail food like jelly ace.
6. Bring water proof camera! ^_^

You can contact our tricycle driver, Kuya Makisig, if you plan to visit Pagsanjan through the Cavinti route: 0921-293-0016

Special thanks to the following sites for the information:
http://paroonatparito.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/pagsanjan-falls-via-pueblo-el-salvador-cavinti-laguna/
http://saggi-space.blogspot.com/2012/06/pagsanjan-falls-php150-challenge.html?m=1

Where to stay in Nueva Vizcaya

2013-03-19T02:11:00.000-07:00

When we went to Nueva Vizcaya in March 2013, we initially thought we would be spending the night at the new resort called PLT Wellness and Mountain Resort. Unfortunately, we were informed that they don't have cottages or rooms for overnight stay. So we had to search the net for a good place to stay for the night.

We eventually stumbled into 24/7 Inn. Based on the reviews, it was good and really affordable. So we booked a standard rooom for Php700.00 per night.

When we got there, I was really surprised at how good the room is - it was like we were paying for a Php 3000.00 worth of room! Just look at how the great this room is:

Standard Rooms

Bed

Balcony

For Php700.00, we got a great room with a clean sheet, beddings and towel (with soap), flatscreen tv, airconditioner, nice balcony, a great ambiance and free access to the pools.

The pools and gardens are also a plus. They have 3 pools - adult, jacuzzi-like and kiddie pool. It was also great for night swimming.

The location is also good since it is at the boundary of Bayombong and Solano (a few steps away form the Welcome to Solano Sign) so everything is just a tricycle away.

The only downside is that they don't allow early check-in. Breakfast is also not included but you can pay around Php 75.00 for a decent breakfast. Or, you can just ride a tricycle to Solano and eat at one of the fastfood chains in town.

Anyways, I would still highly recommend this place to anyone.One of the best places I've stayed in the Philippines.

You may contact them at 0917-5533623.

Half Day Honda Bay Tour - Possible!

2012-12-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

I had a trip to Puerto Princesa with my bestfriend and her boyfriend. Our flight was morning of December 8, 2012 and our return was 1PM of December 10, 2012. That leaves December 9 reserved for the Underground River Tour. So now with our dilemma. Our departure time from Manila was around 10 in the morning and our estimated arrival at the Puerto Princesa airport is around 11:30. To maximize our stay in PP, we decided to have a half day Honda Bay tour. I contacted the hotel where we were supposed to stay and other agencies and got the same message, the Honda Bay is intended for a whole day tour. I had to do a lot of research and found out from other blogs that it's still possible to have a half day Honda Bay - Do it yourself style.

And came December 8 - flight going to PP. It was a good thing that our flight was early. We landed in PP 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Haha. Anyways, when we got out of the airport, I saw my name in one of the welcome greetings. It was our "sundo" from our hotel. We immediately noticed that most of the hotels in PP has their own van to pick up and drop off visitors from and to the airport.

Welcome to Puerto Princesa!

We booked at Tres Pension. It was just 10-15 minutes away from the airport and near the town. When we got there, we were impressed. The place was exactly like the pictures from their site, except for the room that looked bigger from the photos. The rooms was nice and clean though. We were glad we chose this place.

Tres Pension garden

Panoramic view of the other side of Tres Pension

We then asked the reception lady to call a tricycle to bring us to Honda Bay. We unpacked and changed clothes and when we got out, the Kuya Gil, our tricycle driver, was already waiting for us. Since it was lunch time, we asked Kuya Gil to drop us at Robinsons to get some food before heading to the bay. The trip from town to the bay took around 30 minutes. During the trip, Kuya Gil tried to convince us to stop over at some of the stores to rent snorkeling gears. Since we already read from the blogs that the gears are cheaper at the bay, we humbly refused the offer and just told him that we'll need to secure our boat first at the bay.

Meet our super nice tricycle driver - Kuya Gil with his brand new tricycle

We got at the port around 1PM and there was a Taiwanese couple who were trying to negotiate with one of the personnel in the terminal. The personnel then recommended that they join our group to be able to save on the cost of the boat since we can divide the boat rental. They were hesitant at first because they just wanted to stay in one island and be back at the port as soon as possible. But since that would be more expensive, they decided to join our group. The boat rental was Php1300.00, so we had to divide that by 5. And we (three of us) had to pay a total of Php 120.00 for the environment fee and Php 21.00 as terminal fee. Another cash out for this trip was the gear rental. We only rented the snorkeling gears for Php100.00 each. But they also offer fins and bootlegs for Php100.00 each.

Usual payments for a Honda Bay tour

And so the tour begins. Our first stop was Pandan island. It was around 20 minutes from the port. We initially planned to eat our lunch at the island. However, when we got there, they were charging Php300.00 per table. So instead of paying for the rent, we decided to just eat our lunch at the boat, which was okay with our boatmen. After our quick lunch, we headed out to explore the island. Even after visiting a few of the most beautiful beaches in the Philippines, I am still in awe to the fact that the water here is clean.

A view of Pandan Island

After taking a dip at the crystal clear water and taking some pictures, we decided to move to the next island which was Starfish Island. Before leaving, our boatman collected the entrance fee - Php100.00 each. From the name itself and from what I read from other blogs, there were a lot of starfish here. So that was what we expected. However, when we got to the island, we were disappointed to see that not only was the sand not fine, but there were no star fish to be seen!!! The boatman then said that IF we really do not spot a starfish, we'll just have to tell him and he'll be the one to look for one. When he asked around, he found out that the starfishes were moved from near the docking area to the end of the island where we did not go. haha.

So with a bit of hope, we went to the end of the island and yes! The starfishes were there indeed. We were however reminded by our boatman that the starfishes should be returned to the water within 5 minutes of taking them or else they will die.

We saw them!

Picture at the bamboo frame

"Shell" camera trick of our boatman

After satisfying ourselves with the starfish and some picture taking at the island, we then headed to the Pandacan reef where we would maximize our snorkeling gears. Again. before leaving, our boatman collected the entrance fee - Php50.00 each. When we got to the Pandacan reef, we were asked to pay the Php50.00 entrance fee before we were allowed to go to the snorkeling area. Our boatman was there to guide us. He asked us to hold on to the his round floater while he tour us around the area to see the corals and fishes. We were disappointed at the sight since the water was not that clear anymore. The boatman said that the water was usually not clear in the afternoon. *Sigh* Too bad for us. Atleast we were still able to see some of the sea creatures though not that clear.

Pandacan Reef

Since the Pandacan Reef was our last stop, we then headed back to the port. It was almost 5PM when we got back at the port. Kuya Gil was patiently waiting for us. When he saw us, he immediately approached us and offered to take our pictures before we head back to out hotel. We arrived at the hotel after around 30 minutes. We then handed Kuya Gil our payment - Php500.00 thanked him and waived him goodbye.

Though the tour was not perfect, we still enjoyed it. Now it's time to rest before dinner time.

Puerto Galera Weekend Getaway

2012-11-27T19:51:00.002-08:00

November 10, 2012

I have always wanted to go to Puerto Galera. No matter how much discouragements I hear from my friends. I wanted to see it for myself.

So here it goes.

We decided to take the Jac Liner bus in Taft and head straight to the Batangas pier/port. We left around 7 in the morning and arrived at the pier at around 9AM. What we liked from this bus ride was the fact that the conductor charged us for student fare! haha. So we only paid Php128.00 each.

Upon arrival at the port, we were greeted with a lot of guys volunteering to assist us in getting our tickets. When we got to the Minolo Shipping Lines ticket booth, I was surprised to see that the round trip fare was already Php500.00. It used to be at Php450.00. We also paid an additional Php80.00 for the environment fee and terminal fee.

Before entering the port departure area, we were informed that we need to buy water at the port since water in Galera is more expensive. We got tricked! That was a lesson we will never forget. :p

When we got onboard, we noticed that there were alot of other passengers going to Galera for the weekend. The trip took around 1.5hrs. When we got to the first island, we thought we were going offboard. But we were told that passengers headed for the White Beach should remain at the ship.

While waiting for the passengers to get off the ship, some kids were asking the remaining passengers to throw coins to the sea for them to dive and get the coins. I hated the scenario because it looked like people are thinking of these kids as their toys. Anyways, from the first island, it took another 15 minutes to get to White Beach where we plan to stay.

Finally! We are at White Beach. The first thing I noticed while getting off the ship is the crystal clear water. I didn't imagine it to be this good. After getting off the ship, we were greeted by alot of people offering hotels and water activities. We ignored them and went straight to the table of Minolo Shipping Lines to reserve our slot for the ship back to Batangas.

Panoramic view of the beach from the port

After reserving, we then entertained the people offering hotels. We were then escorted to see the rooms at Dreamwave by "ate". But since there is a bar at the ground floor, we decided that we didn't want to stay there because we were thinking of the noise at night. We then asked for another option and were then escorted to Mendelluke's Suite. We were offered the big room that cost Php 2,000.00 for a night. When we saw the rooms, we immediately decided to stay there since it was clean, very spacious. and we wanted to decide right away for us to start our tour.

Panoramic view of the beach from infront of our lodge

Beach infront of our lodge

Affordable meals

We then decided to eat before proceeding with our island hopping tour. We walked a few blocks looking for a good place to eat. But it seems that the menu was the same. So we decided to eat at the next place that we see which was "Food trip sa Galera". Their food was affordable. They had rice meals that range from Php 85.00 to Php 125.00. Not bad.

After eating, we texted "ate" that we were ready for our island hopping. I'm glad that we were able to bargain for this tour. It was initially offered to us as Php 1,500.00. But I was persistent that the trip should only cost us Php 1,000.00. So she offered the tour for Php 1,200.00 including transportation to and from the port, gears and some bread for the fish feeding. We grabbed the offer and off we go!

The trip from the beach to the port only took around 10-15 minutes via tricycle while the trip from the port to the "Aquarium" took around 20 minutes.

One of the nice islands

When we got to the "Aquarium", our boat was approached by 2 small boats. Our boatman and guide explained that since our boat was big, they are not able to "park" the boat where the corals are since it may damage the corals. For a better snorkeling experience, we need to hire the small boats who will be guiding us around the area.

Fish feeding - get ready to be bitten!

Since we had no choice, we had to hire 2 small boats at Php 200.00 each to take us around the area. Well, it was worth it I guess. They provided the snorkeling gears while the life vest was from our big boat.

The small boat brought us to where there the corals and colorful fishes were. We really enjoyed this part except for the part where we saw snakes swimming. Haha. Here are some of the pictures I took underwater.

View underwater

After snorkeling, the "Kuya" from the small boat was convincing us to try the underwater cave since that place is good for picture taking. Being on a budget, we declined the offer. They then escorted us back to our big boat. From there, we went to one of the islands for more picture taking.

Sexy ladies at the beach

We spent around an hour just taking pictures (which I will not post :p). Afterwhich, our boatman had to come fetch us to say that we had to go back to White Beach.

It was starting to get dark when we got to White Beach. We decided to go back to our room to freshen up then eat our dinner.

We had dinner at Residencia de Galera. We were so pleased with their waitress. She is super nice and accomodating. That's why we also decided to have our breakfast there the next day.

Highly recommended due to their super friendly and accomodating Ate Joy

One of the many groups of fire dancers

While waiting for our dinner to be served, we watched some of the fire dancers. It was entertaining and exciting since they allow the visitors to have their pictures taken with the dancers. We also had our pictures taken with the dancers. But we weren't able to give some tips since we didn't notice that they have a container where you will just drop your tip. haha

The famour Mindoro Sling

After eating, we went to Dreamwave to try the famous Mindoro Sling. The price was consistent for all bars. A pitcher costs Php300.00

While drinking, my friends tried their henna tatoo which only costs Php100.00 per design.

Some vendors were also roaming around selling "pulutan" which was way cheaper than the ones offered in the bars. it was practical to buy from them since there is no corkage fee.

Now, it's time to go back to bed and get ready for the next day.

Our room at Mendelluke's Suite (Php 2,000.00 per night)

Banana Boat Station where you can leave your valuables

The next day, we tried their banana boat ride. It was now at Php200.00 per person. The ride took around 15 minutes with 3 drops.

Before we were able to ride the boat, we had to wait for 6 more people since the boat can accomodate 10 people.

Banana Boat

When a group of 6 were willing to share the boat with us, we immediately paid for it and wore their life vests.

Before settling in, I asked one of the "Kuyas" to take our pictures using my water proof camera. So we had to be in the front of the boat. Haha.

It was fun! Though we had to take in a lot of the super salty water with every drop.

After the ride, we didn't have anything else to do but to swim and enjoy the beach.

It was a short but fun vacation indeed.

-End-

Food Trip in Naga

2012-11-19T15:40:00.001-08:00

October 26 - 28, 2012

A trip would never be a complete experience without the food. So for our Naga trip, here are some of the food that we tried:

CWC Clubhouse:

Laing Pizza: It was so so. The taste of the taro leaves was so strong that we couldn't finish our pizza
Penne Arabiata: It was a penne pasta with some sausage in pomodoro sauce. We we're glad we had this since it contradicted the taste of the laing pizza
Banana Cake: I liked it since its taste was mild. Though it was a bit dry.
Clubsandwich: We actually like this sandwich. Everything was perfect!
Bacon and Potato Breakfast Bowl: I enjoyed this meal. The potato was just right and it was compimented by the strips of bacon.
Breakfast cereals with fruits: The fruit that time was mango. It was sour. The color was pale yellow. Not a good meal to start the day.
Iced Tea: Well, it was recommended by the waiter since a jar only costs Php 50.00
Brewed coffee: It was a good brewed coffee to start my day.

Penne Arabiata

Clubsandwich

Cereals with fruit

Banana Cake

Laing Pizza

Bacon and Potato Breakfast Bowl

Pizza, pasta and seafoods

Pork, chicken, beef and rice

Breakfast, rice toppings and local dishes

Healthy corner, noodles, dimsum and snacks

Sweet finale and beverages

Cakes

Bob Marlin

Laing: It was a good one. Way better than how it tasted in a pizza
Crispy pata: One of the house specialties. It was really good! I loved their sauce. It made the dish more delicious. And their serving was huge.
Tanigue: We also love this dish. The sauce was just right.

A little something to know about Bob Marlin

The menu upon at the entrance

Grilled Tanigue

Laing

Crispy Pata

Bigg's Diner
- The food is not just great, the ambiance is also a plus. This was one of the reasons why I liked Naga. Now, as for the food:

Cajun Chicken: It was great! It was tender and soft and crispy and just so perfect!
Extreme Super Burger: We had no regrets! This is one of the best burgers I tasted.

Bigg's @ SM Naga

Menu

Discover why its the best selling chicken!

Cajun Chicken

Supreme Burger

We love Bigg's!

-End-

Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC): The Best Cable in the World

2012-11-19T03:27:00.000-08:00

October 26, 2012

Our trip to Naga was supposed to be for work on the 27th of October. But since our flight was scheduled on October 26, which turned out to be a holiday, we decided to book at the CWC area to be able to have fun before our work.

Getting there wasn't that hard since we will be riding on a plane. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed for an hour. When it was boarding time, I was a little surprise to see that our flight was the propeller type and not the air bus. Our Coron trip soon popped into my mind and how the turbulence felt during that time. It was a good thing that it was not raining during the whole flight.

Our plane to Naga

We we reached Naga airport, I was wondering why the sign says that luggage for pick up is in one area where there is no conveyor belt. When the door opened, we saw all our luggages being pulled in and realized that the passengers would have to manually pick their luggages from the piles of bags in the cart. That was my first time to see such. It was funny yet annoying. :-)

When we got out of the airport, a guy was already waiting for us with the sign CWC. We were then escorted into the van along with the other passengers.

CWC was less than 15 minutes from the airport. We were dropped off at the reception for check-in. We saw a really beautiful pool beside the reception area. We just couldn't resist taking pictures while waiting for our turn.

The exclusive pool for villa guests

When it was our turn to check in, we were asked to sign their forms. After the paper works, we were given our keys and were escorted to our room. We got a budget room (Cabana Twin Room) so our expectations were not that high.

When we got to our room, we didn't expect to see such a clean room and nice beds. However, we noticed that the window locks are broken even the one in the bathroom. Other than that, it was perfect.

Twin beds

View from the outside

Since we had nothing else to do, we decided to roam around after unpacking our things. The activity area was just a few blocks from our room so we didn't have any problem walking to get there.

Our first impression when we saw the area was "Wow!". The area was huge. And we were amazed at the people wakeboarding.

Biggest Lake for wakeboarding

We didn't waste a minute. We immediately headed to the cashier to pay and get our gears. Wakeboarding costs Php135.00 per hour with the gears (Helmet and life vest). Php500.00 is collected as a deposit for the gears but will be returned upon return of the gears.

Try it!

From the main area, a "shutlle", which is actually a tricycle, took us to the beginner's lake. When we got there, a family was already enjoying wakeboarding. They were really good since they were able to stand up at their boards and cross the lake.

When it was our turn to try it, we failed! Big time! The instructor would always remind us to keep our heels down and not pull the cable but it was hard to follow instructions once you're being pulled in.

It came to the point when the instructor said that he would resign if we are not able to cross the lake! Haha.

But thanks to his persistence, we were able to finally cross the lake and even stand from our board. He even volunteered to take pictures! Yey!

Finally!

With our Instructor

An hour of wakeboarding was fun. But we got bored so we decided to return our gears and have our lunch at the Clubhouse.

When we asked around for the house specialty, they said that the Laing Pizza is a must try. So we ordered one. But when we tasted it, we were like "Laing nga" (Taro Leaves indeed). I can say it was an experience. But it's one that we don't want to experience again. Haha. We also ordered their Penne Arabiata which was okay.

Overrated Laing Pizza

Penne Arabiata

Banana Cake

After eating, we decided to stroll around the area and see the other things that CWC has to offer. After the sight-seeing, we decided to try their pool. For a person who doesn't know much how to swim, their pool is a disappointment. Haha. The design was that it was swallow in at both ends of the pool and becomes deeper as you go to the middle. We didn't know that until we got to the middle and weren't able to touch the floor anymore. We had to calm ourselves and swim back to the edge. Hahaha. But atleast the pool was clean.

Here are some of the pictures we took while sight-seeing:

Lago del Ray

Pool for the public

Wood cabins

The villa pool at night

A summary of our day in CWC

-End-

Hundred Reasons to visit the Hundred Islands

2012-11-18T16:38:00.002-08:00

I went home to Baguio for All Souls' Day. Since this was a long weekend, I was able to convince my parents to go on a short trip to Pangasinan on Nov. 2 and 3. My dad agreed and thought of Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan. Hooray!

We left Baguio around 8:30 in the morning. The trip from Baguio to Alaminos would usually take around 3 hours of driving. Unfortunately for us, there were a lot of road constructions that made our trip longer than usual. We had a short stop over at CSI Dagupan to buy some groceries and snacks since we were getting hungry.

We reached Alaminos around 1:30 in the afternoon. We then looked for a place to spend the night. There are a lot of hotels/inns/lodges near the port so accomodation was not a problem. We were supposed to have our island hopping that same day after we eat lunch. But since it was nearing 2PM and we will still take our lunch, the guys at the hotel recommended that we move our island hopping to the next day for us to have more time in the islands and be able to really enjoy the place. When we asked if we could stay at the island overnight, they said that it is possible but there would be a lot of mosquitos and their is no electricity there. They also adviced that we can spend our time to look for seafoods which we can cook at the islands for lunch. We took their advice and reserved a boat for the next day's adventure.

Welcome to Hundred Islands!

Since it was already late, we asked the locals where we can eat. They initially pointed us to the food court just around the corner. When we asked if the food in Maxine by the Sea was good, they just said that it was expensive there. But we still tried it out. When I saw the menu, the prices were okay if you're in Manila. A dish cost an average of Php200.00 while the shakes are around Php 80.00.

Initially, we order the calamares, kilawin, pork barbeque, and prawns. Unfortunately, they had no prawns during that time. We also got fruit shakes for drinks.

For the food, it was okay. Nothing extra ordinary. Their shake was also normal. Though it would have been better if they added some milk to the strawberry and papaya shakes that we ordered. The price of the food was a bit overpriced for the taste but I think the ambience would compensate for that. We were told that it would be great to have dinner there because of the ambiance but we didn't get the chance to go back for dinner.

Our Lunch

Group Menu

After eating, we decided to go back to our room, rest for a bit then head to town to buy some seafoods for the next day's lunch. We went to Nepo Mart to buy the things we needed. When I saw the word Nepo, I initially thought that it was the same as Nepo Mall in Dagupan. So when we got there, I was looking for the supermarket and other shops. Then I realized that it was just a market. Haha. Anyways, we bought a shrimps, squids and some eggplants. Oh, and some coal too.
With nothing else to do, we went back to our room and asked the lady in the hotel to store the seafoods at their freezer. We spent the rest of the night eating some of our snacks and watching some teleserye - since we were with our mom, we had no choice. Haha.

We got up around 6 in the morning for our island hopping. It took around 30 minutes from the port to get to the islands. The first island shown to us was the Governor's island were Pinor Big Brother's House - Teen Edition was located. Our boatman asked if we wanted to stop there but we preferred to stay at Quezon Island were the activities are. The boatman then showed us the Marcos and Imelda islands. Then we headed to the Quezon Island were we stayed for the rest of the day.

Port

One of the many islands

PBB House in Governor's Island

Imelda Island - Has a small cave underneath

When we got off at the shore of Quezon Island, we were greeted by one of the caretakers in the island. He immediately asked if we'd like a table or a nipa hut. We chose the latter for privacy. We were then guided to our hut which was overlooking the island. It was the perfect spot!
After settling down, we asked our guide and boatman to start preparing our lunch. We were so not prepared. We forgot to bring paper plates and spoon. So we had no choice but to buy plates from the store in the island. It cost Php5.00 for a piece of styroplate! That was waaaay too much. But we had nothing to use to we had to buy them. While the food is being prepared, we went down to take a dip at the water, take some pictures and try out their kayak.

View from our cottage

It was our first time to try kayaking. Before we started, we were advised that whatever happends, we should not let go of our paddle since it's expensive and it would be very hard to retrieve it once we lost it in the sea.

Parents enjoying the kayak

Kayaking with Brother

It was so much fun. We were able to go around the island and to the other islands on our own. It was a bit scary when we were in the middle of the sea and had to paddle to be reach the other islands. It was scarier when we got stuck a few times when we were in the area near the giant clams. The water got low and our kayaks were already touching some of the corals. We had to push our way off the corals for our kayak to be able to move again. Whew! That was so close. We didn't want to be stuck in the middle of the sea! Haha. After an hour of kayaking, we went back to the island to return the kayak. But the owner insisted that we have another round for free since we were their only customer at that time. Yipee! But I think that was a good advertisement for them. When we came back, almost all the kayaks were out! Haha. We paid Php250.00 for one kayak.

Enjoying the beach (Got to the island through the kayak)

Panoramic view

After the tiring activity, we went back to our cottage for lunch. The tour guide and boatman were done grilling our food. Since the food was so enticing, we decided to buy some rice to go with it. The price was too much! It cost Php25.00 per cup or Php150.00 for a small pot of rice. And we had to pay for the extra bag of coal that costs Php50.00.

Sugpo

Pusit

Talong talong

After eating, my brother asked if we could do the parasailing. So I called the number in the advertisments. The foreigner who answered the phone said that he will be at the island in an hour. After an hour of waiting, he finally came. Hooray!

And our parasailing adventure began!

Our parasailing guide

Yacht baby!

Parasailing

View from the air

After the wonderful experience in the air, we decided to stop by the snorkeling area to see the view. The view was not that great as compared to the one in Coron but it was okay. My brother enjoyed it since it was his first time to snorkle.

Underwater pixes

This has been a great family bonding. The water activities offered also made the place more interesting. They now offer snorkeling, kayaking, and even parasailing. Nice!

For those who haven't tried parasailing yet, it's a great chance to experience it. You may contact the owner at 0999-8008180. He's a great guy form Hawaii. :-)

We ended our short trip to Alaminos with a dinner at Bangsal in Binmaley, Pangasinan. The food was okay. Try their catfish or "hito". It taste good.

Discovering Coron: Malcapuya and Banana Island

2012-10-06T07:40:00.001-07:00

September 14, 2012

We woke up around 6AM with the sound of the strong rain and wind. We were worried that our Malcapuya and Banana Island tour would not push through. True enough, the agency informed us that the coast guard did not allow the boats to travel to islands located far from the Busuanga Island. Instead, the agency booked us for a trip to other islands. We were disappointed but had no choice.

We first had our breakfast at the lodge. Our breakfast was sooooo good! Coron had its version of danggit. Compared to Cebu's danggit, it was not dry at all. We were informed that this was because the danggit of Coron was frozen and not dried. But we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Breakfast to start the day

Around 9 AM, Ate Eden and Ate Lorraine came to pick us up and personally informed us that we won't be visiting Malcapuya and Banana Island. We picked up 3 other visitors who joined us in the tour. When we got to the pier, the tour guide - Kuya Denver, said that since the boat is big, it can take us to Malcapuya. We were so happy when we heard the good news. The boat was good for 20 persons so it was good enough to go through the waves. Looking around the boat, I noticed that the food for our lunch was already cooked except for the fish.

The trip to the island would normally take around 1.5 hours. But since we are travelling against really strong waves, the trip took more than 2 hours. But it was okay. The long trip was worth it because we learned alot from Kuya Denver. He was one of those contacted by National Geographic to accompany them in discovering the islands of Coron. He said that the Tagbauans (Philippine tribe) owns most of the islands in Coron. For the usual Coron Island tour, only 3 lakes are open to the public. However, there are more lakes in the islands. But these are part of the protected part of the islands. The Tagbanuans are very strict in protecting their area since their livelihood depends on the birds that produces materials for the bird's nest soup. The tribe do not want these birds to be disturbed and build their home in other places. Alot of their living comes from these birds so protection of the bird's sanctuary is very important.

We were still far from the island when Kuya Denver pointed a dome shape island - Banana Island and the island beside - Malcapuya. This got us really excited. That was still 30 minutes away. Haha. The excitement got higher when we were already near the islands. The islands were soooooo beautiful.

Since our boat was big, we had to dock at the back part of Malcapuya island. It was just a short walk to get to front part of the island where the cabins are located. They had a shower, tables, grills, a view deck and a basketball court. They also had a store which sells liqour?! Haha.

View from the back of the island after getting off the boat

When we got to the picnic area, Kuya Denver said that we can go for a swim while he prepare our lunch. We took some pictures and went to the viewing deck. The view was great! The water was clear and it was just so amazing to be in such a beautiful place. God is so good and great to have created such a place for people to witness.

View from the viewdeck

While at the view deck, it started to shower so we had to go back to the picnic area for a shed. Though it would shower at some point, the rain/shower would stop and we took the chance to take some pictures. Here are some of the pictures we took:

Then while we were swimming, Kuya Denver called us in for lunch. We were happy to see the food prepared for us: crabs, squid, eggplant with tomatoes & onions and adobo. We had mineral water and soda for drinks. At the end of the meal, Kuya Denver remembered the mangoes for dessert. Yum! While eating, it started to rain hard and the wind became so cold. After eating, we had to dip in the water to fight the chill in the air. It was a good thing Kuya Denver brought Emperador. It helped us fight the chill. Hihi. (Note: This is usually not allowed but since the situation allowed it, it was forgivable).

After the drink, we decided to go to the island nearby - Banana Island. When we got near the island, the captain of the boat said that they cannot dock since the boat might get stuck due to the low water level. So what they did was to bring us to the island using their rafting boat. (Free water rafting for us :p)

Banana Island was not that big. But it was a beauty by itself. Kuya Denver explained that it was named Banana Island because there was a time in the year when the sand would be on one side and another time when it would be at another time forming a banana. When we got there, we believed that it was better than Malcapuya. The sand was finer and whiter and the beauty was unique.

Beautiful Banana Island

After taking pictures and swimming for a short time, it was finally time to go back to town. We didn't want it to be dark while in the middle of the sea. By this time, everyone was really freezing. So we had to bring out another bottle of Emperador which Kuya Denver bought in the store in Malcapuya. Since we bought some chips which were not eaten, we brought them out and made them our "pulutan". Haha.

In the middle of the sea, Kuya Denver brought out the snacks included in our tour. It was a cassava-made delicacy. It was yummy. After the snack, everyone was so tired. Some of us positioned ourselves to sleep since the trip would take another hour.

When we got to the port, everyone was excited to go back to our respective hotel/lodge to drink a warm cup of coffee. It was freaking freezing! Just look at Kuya Denver! haha

This day had been a blast! Thank you Kuya Denver! Coron is blessed with so much beauty. Hopefully, this will be maintained.

Discovering Coron: Arrival

2012-09-30T07:14:00.002-07:00

September 13, 2012

This is it! After months of not being away from Manila, it's finally time for our much awaited Coron escapade.

Our flight was supposed to be around 3:05 in the afternoon. But as expected, our Cebu Pacific plane arrived late pushing our flight to be delayed for an hour. This was announced 30 minutes before the scheduled flight at the per-departure area. Anyways, when we were picked up by the Cebu Pacific shuttle to be taken to the plane bound for Coron, we were surprised to see that our plane would be the propeller type. It was everyone's first time to ride one.

Propeller-type plane

When we got in, we noticed that there were only four seats in a row. What was scary was the propeller itself. Everyone was "Is this safe?". But hey, do we have a choice? So here goes. The take off was a bit okay. When we were up in the air, the turbulence was really bad. The plane was shaking and my friend forced herself to sleep so as not to feel sick. A few miles to Coron, the turbulence got really bad that the we felt the plane drop for a few feet. Some got really scared and couldn't help but shout. But the kid sitting behind me was giggling and enjoying it. It made the mood a bit better. Everyone was amazed with the kid and kept asking the kid "Was it like a roller coaster?". After awhile, we were then informed that we would be landing soon. One of the best news of the day.

When we landed, it was raining so a Cebu Pacific ground personnel was handling umbrellas to everyone who were coming out from the plane. I noticed that though the airport is small, it was clean and the floor was made of tiles. So far, it was the best domestic airport I've seen.

When we got out of the arrival area, we were welcomed by Ate Eden,the representative from RGO tours, our tour agency.

Welcome to Coron!

To get to the city from the airport, we rode a van. When I asked how much is the van from the airport to the city, I was informed that it only costs Php 150.00. That's reasonable for a 30 minute ride. On the way to the city, we passed by a ranch that has hundreds of cows scattered all over the place. It was a nice view to welcome visitors to Coron.

When we got to the town, we were accompanied by Ate Eden to our lodge. We were booked at Sea Coral Lodge which was a newly built lodge located in the town proper in front of the Coron Drugstore and Cebu Pacific ticketing office. We were met by Ate Lorraine of RGO in the lodge. Since there were four of us, we were assigned at room 202 which has one queen bed and a single bed with a pull out bed. When we saw our room, we were impressed with the cleanliness of the place. The beds were neatly presented with the towels on top. The bathroom was clean and has a hot/cold shower. They included some soap and a tissue as complimentary toiletries.

The Queen Size Bed

The bathroom

Sea Coral Lodge's price is as follows:

Room 201: Php 1,300/night (1 Queen bed, 1 single bed - 3 pax with extra bed)

Room 202: Php 1,300/night (1 Queen bed, 1 single bed - 3 pax with extra bed)

Room 203: Php 1,000/night (1 Queen bed -2 pax)

Room 204: Php 1,000/night (1 Queen bed, 2 pax)

Room 205: Php Php 1,200/night (2 Single bed - 2 pax with extra bed)

Room 206: Php 1,000/night (1 Queen bed, 2 pax)

Room 207: Php 2,500/night ( 2 Queen bed, 2 single bed - maximum of 8 persons with extra bed)

Extra bed: Php 300
Breakfast: Php 150

Since it was already around 6PM when we decided to have dinner. Ate Lorraine suggested that we try Gising-gising, Bistro or Sea Dive. These were just a few blocks from our lodge so we could walk to these places. We decided to try Gising-gising. Since it was raining, we had to ride a tricycle to get there. The fare was only Php8.00 per person. Tricycles in Coron were bigger than those in Manila so it was able to accommodate all four of us without us feeling uncomfortable. The seat beside the driver could fit two persons while the seat at the back can accommodate up to four people.

When we got to the place, we immediately looked at their menu. The people there said that their best seller was the Sultana de Coron which was made up of a mixed of sea foods. So we ordered one of that and the garlic chilli crabs. Unfortunately, they run out of the crabs so they suggested we take the grilled pusit instead, which we did. The food was good. For our first meal in town, it was a great welcome meal. And the price was also reasonable.

Sultana de Coron

Grilled Pusit

After dinner, we decided to walk back to the lodge since it was not raining. We passed by a zagu shop and decided to buy coolers. The price is the that in Manila. While waiting for our coolers, we decided to buy some snacks for the next day's activities in the nearby sari-sari store. We got excited that we just took the chips we wanted and when we were at the counter, we were surprised of the excessive prices of the groceries. Since we didn't have a choice, we just paid for the items and went back to zagu for our coolers.

Zagu Coolers - Coron version

We finished our coolers at the lodge. A great way to end the day. Before going to sleep, one of the receptionists got our orders for breakfast which was to be served at 7AM the next day. We chose to have danggit. Weeeeh. Excited for tomorrow's breakfast and tour.

Malcapuya and Banana Islands, here we come!

Exploring South Korea: Trick Eye Museum, Samsung d' Light and 63 Building

2012-08-04T23:03:00.002-07:00

Our plane left the Philippines around 1:15 AM (Philippine time) and touched down Incheon around 6:15 AM (Korea Time). When the plane landed, my brother looked outside and saw a lot of blue colored planes. Then he turned to me and asked, “Sister, why are there a lot of PEPSI planes here?” I laughed so hard coz he thought that Korean Airlines are PEPSI planes! Anyways, after getting through the immigration, we exchanged a hundred dollars and looked for the nearest convenient store to buy T-money which we will use to pay for our transportation and other petty expenses within Korea. Each T-money costs 3,000 won and we loaded 20,000 won each.

T-card loaded 20,000 won

After which, we headed for the bus stop as instructed by our hostel which was at bus stop 12A. We had to wait for bus number 6011 which took around 20 minutes to arrive.

Bus stop sign

When the bus came, we gave our baggage to the attendant who placed a sticker on our baggage and gave us our claim tickets. When we got on the bus, we showed the bus driver the following lines which was sent by our hostel:

창경궁 지나 대학로 성균관 대학교역에서 내려주세요!

(Just after Changkyunggung, please let me off at SungKyunKwan station.)

After reading the lines, the driver agreed by nodding and asked that we pay the fare. To do so, we had to tap our T-money cards on the bus’ system and saw that 10,000 won was deducted from our card. Since we knew that the ride from Incheon to our destination would take more than an hour, we took the chance to sleep. We woke up when we were already in Seoul.

We're in Seoul!

We had to listen carefully for the places the driver was saying. We should be getting off at the SungKyunKwan bus stop. Since we researched ahead on the place that we’ll be staying, we had an idea of how the bus stop looks like. So when we saw the Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, we knew we were already at our destination. True enough, the driver said that it was the SungKyunKwan stop. We got off the bus, handed our claim ticket to the driver, got our baggage and began our way to the hostel which was only a few blocks away. When we saw the hostel signage, we were so happy and excited. We were greeted by the receptionist who happens to be the sister of the owner. She then directed us to our room and directed us on how to get to the places we would like to visit for the day.

We stayed at the new green building. It was great for a budget accommodation. The room was clean, spacious, had its own bathroom, lockers, a computer with internet and wi-fi, washing machine, microwave and some cooking stuff. They also provided towels. The location is good. It was only a few minutes walk from the bus stop and subway which made it easy for us to see all the places in our itinerary. There was also a bakeshop nearby that sold delicious breads good for breakfast. The place is also near a lot of food shops that sold affordable and delicious Korean food. After resting for awhile and taking a bath, we started our Korea vacation.

Our first day in Seoul started with a visit to the Trick Eye Museum. From Backpacker Inside Hostel, we walked a few blocks to get to the subway. The nearest subway from our Hostel was the Hyehwa Station which is Line 4. But before heading for the museum, we looked for the nearest bank to exchange our dollars. The nearest bank we found was Woori bank which was just a walk from the station. The bank rates were fair enough. To get to the museum, we had to transfer to Line 2 when we reached Dongdaemun History & Culture Park.

It was good that they have signs in English

From there, we changed to Line 2 and got off at the Hongik University Station. From the Hongik University Station, we got out through exit 9. From there, we asked the locals for the way to the museum.

Finally!

When we finally saw the museum’s signed, we dashed towards it coz of excitement. We had to go down the stairs to get to the museum. The museum consist of two areas: the Trick Eye Museum and the Greek Myth Museum.

Posters that can be seen while going down the stairs

At the reception, we paid 13,000 won each. In the reception area, they have these cute figurines of a chubby guy and a girl with their country’s flag and the words “welcome” in the native language of the country.

Cute figurines welcomed us

Inside the museum were a lot of paintings that would really trick the eye into believing that the paintings are real. There are some tips at the side of the pictures on what to do to make it appear that the paintings are real and there are also guides on the best photo spot to take a picture. Here are some of the pixes:

Bro

With papa

Mirror Maze

After spending an hour or two at the museum, we decided to have our lunch at any of the restaurants nearby. And we saw one that lets you cook your own food at the table. They have gas stove per table and what they do is to put aluminum foils at the metal plate on top of the stove. Then its up to you to cook what you ordered. They did teach us how to cook our food since its obvious that we don't know what to do.

Where to cook the food

Our First Super yummy Korean food!

After the satisfying lunch, we headed to Samsung d'light as requested by my dad. To get there, we rode the subway line 2 until we reached Gangnam Station and went out at exit 8. When we got to Samsung, we saw a lot of high school students hanging around trying everything. All the gadgets there were super cool. They have a cursor that can be controlled by the eye - COOOOL! They also have all the wii and 3D televisions. What we enjoyed most was the colorful wall that when they get tapped, they create a sound. We had so much fun just tapping the wall and listening to the music it produce. We were also amazed by how their motion detector devices works. There were areas where it seemed as if nothing is there, but when someone steps in the area, these lights and videos appear. Samsung is really something!

These walls creates music by just tapping them

The first thing that can be seen at the third floor

Bro activated the monitor through the motion detector device

the first floor, they have a camera that lets you take your picture and send it to your email. Once the picture is taken, it asks for the picture that you like best. This is then displayed in one of their walls that has lots of monitors. Here's our family picture:

Imagine Happiness - with the family

Next stop: 63 Building!!!

We almost got lost trying to find this place. From Samsung d' Light, we took the subway line 2 and got off at Sindorim station. We then rode line 1 and got off at Daebang station and came out at exit 6. From what the personnel at Samsung said, there was a free shuttle from this exit to the 63 building. Unfortunately, all the people we asked were not aware of the shuttle we were looking for. Since it was just near, we decided to take the cab - atleast we got to ride a cab in Korea.

When we got at the building, we went to ticket booth. Initially, what I had in mind was to get the package for the Sky Art, 3D and wax museum. Unfortunately, the 3D was not available that time since it was already late. We were offered to take Sea World instead but since I read from the reviews that it is not worth it, we decided to just take the sky art and the wax museum. We went to the Wax Museum first. Outside the museum, we were greeted by the 63 Wax Museum sign and by Albert Einstein.

Welcome to the Wax Musuem!!!

Inside the museum, they have all kinds of waxes. It was like the wax museum in Thailand. They have local and international artists. So there were some personalities that we didn't recognize. But I think they have more waxes here than the one in Thailand.

Leo

Obama

There were also scary waxes with all the blood effects, the last supper, and bears!

Bears!!!

Near the exit of the museum, like all other museums, they have an area that makes a wax of your hand for 5,000 won each. Since it would be a good souvenir, me and my brother tried it. The first step for having a wax of your hand was to apply lotion at your hand to make it easier for them to get the wax.Then, they ask you to position your hand in the way you want it to be waxed and they soak the hand at this super cold water. Next is they transfer your hand to a container with melted wax. Then they soak your hand again at the cold water and followed by the melted wax. They repeat this steps until they feel that the wax is thick enough. They then remove your hand from the wax and clean it a bit, put a base and ask for the color.

Dipping my hand in the cold water. Notice the wax that formed

Cleaning the wax

Dipping the wax hand in different colors

The finished product

After the wax museum, we headed for the Sky Art Gallery to have a view of Korea at night. It was a wonderful experience to see Seoul at night. We were amazed at how organized the city was. The Philippines was nothing compared to this country.

Sky Art Sign

The N-Tower can be seen from here

Traffic is starting to build up

After admiring the beauty of Korea at night, we decided to eat at the building food court.

Delicious but spicy Korean noodles

After eating, we then asked on how to get to the subway. Luckily, the person we asked was very enthusiastic and insisted that we wait for the free shuttle to take us to the nearest subway. At first, we did not understand him and went to look for the shuttle. Then he ran after us and said that we just wait where we are and the shuttle will come. True enough, we saw a bus with 63 building written on it. We rode it and it dropped us off at Daebang station. From there, we found our way back to Sungkung Kwan where our hostel is located. Before heading to our hostel, we dropped by 7-eleven and bought some ice cream. Yey!
We ended the day this delicious Korean Ice Cream (yummy! ^_^)

Time to sleep and be ready for Lotte World!

A Glimpse of Mamburao (Occidental Mindoro)

2012-07-22T07:33:00.003-07:00

When I was assigned for a business trip in Mamburao for July 21, 2012, I was a little disappointed with the difficulty in looking for a place to stay and things to do there. So I decided to make a blog about this travel first to help others venturing to that quiet town before I finish my blog on our Korea escapade.

Our trip to Mamburao started at 2:30 in the afternoon when we left our Makati office and headed to the Batangas port to catch the 6:30 Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) ship. We got at the port at 4:00PM and paid the terminal fee which cost Php 129.00 for the car and Php 30.00 for the passenger (it was free for the driver). We entered gate 2 and lined up for boarding since we will be taking the car with us.

Sign to the port and Port entrance where terminal fee is paid

Gate II for cars that will be loaded in the ship

While waiting, we ate some snacks knowing that there’s a big possibility that we’ll not be able to eat dinner. When we were signaled to bring the car at the boarding dock, I saw the ship that we’ll be riding. Our ship was Montenegro’s Maria Vanessa. It was a small ship but we had no choice but to ride it since there were only a few trips from Batangas to Abra de Ilog. We were instructed to load the car into the ship. There, they charged us Php 1872.00 fee for transporting the car (we were already free). After parking the car, we then went up to the passenger area in the second floor of the ship. But before going up, I stopped to see how they would secure the cars from moving while the ship is moving. Then I saw the guys put this thick bundle of rope at one of the tires. After taking a picture of the rope, I then went up to the passengers' area. Well, it was better than what I expected. Atleast I was able to sleep through the whole trip.

Super Shuttle Roro - this was so large (I was just amazed to see such RoRo)

The ship that took us to Abra de Ilog. Notice what was used to control the cars from moving.

It was my first time to ride a RORO and with a not so friendly weather, the experience still went well. The ship left the port around 6:30PM. We arrived safely at Abra de Ilog port around 8:45PM. We were one of the first cars to enter the ship and one of the ones to get out first. When we got out of the port and got to the intersection, we were not sure what way to go since there was no sign. We turned right and just followed the cars before us hoping that they were also headed to Abra de Ilog. While on the road, it started to rain harder which made me think that it was a good decision to bring a car for this trip. The road was also dark as there were no street lights along the road. The scene reminded me of our stay at Bukidnon where we had to pass by dark roads along the pineapple plantation.

When we reached another intersection, there was already a sign leading to Mamburao. Our destination for the night was La Gensol Hotel which was the only hotel I can think of since it was along the road. When we got at Mamburao, the driver slowed down to be sure that we’ll miss the hotel. True enough, the hotel was along the road and there sign helped us find them. We got at the hotel around 9:45PM.

When I checked in, I was given the single room with A/C. I'm not that picky on the rooms I stay in but this was a different story. This was the worst hotel experience I ever had. When I got to the room, I said to myself that for the price, it was okay. Then when I opened the door of the bathroom, this super big cockroach came out. And when I saw the bathroom itself, I was disappointed to see a run-down bathroom. I also noticed that the shower is the regular one with no hot water. It should have been okay but at the moment, it was raining hard so the water was cold. But I'm not the type who would go to the reception area and demand a better room for me so I just had to deal with it since it was only for a night. Until now, I'm not sure why this was the room given to me by the receptionist.

Before sleeping and to check if my driver also stayed in the same hotel, I looked out the window and noticed that my room was just beside a balcony. I got a little paranoid since the windows can easily be opened from the outside and one window grill is open. I had to look for a way to lock the grill and then forced myself to sleep and not think that someone might break in. Oh, and I also noticed that there was a space between the wall and the A/C that would allow people from the outside to peek in! They did provide the basics like linens, towel, soap, shampoo and toothpaste.

This was okay

This was so not okay!

Hotel's front view

The next day, we had breakfast at their restaurant. The food was okay but overpriced. Their breakfast meals like beef tapa with egg and rice cost Php90.00.

We left the hotel around 8AM for work. We were able to finish work just in time for lunch. We had lunch at our contact person’s house and when we had a little talk, they said that La Gensol was already the best hotel in Mamburao. Maybe I was just unlucky to be given that room.

Our “sponsors” then said that there was not much to see Mamburao except for the fields and some resorts. But since the weather was not cooperating, the beaches were not at their best when we saw them. But they still accompanied us to see what their place has to offer. It was really a shame that the weather was bad. The locals said that the water was blue if it was sunny.

The beautiful fields

Our first stop was the resorts in Tayamaan. On the way, I enjoyed the view of the road being covered by trees.

These were some of the photos I got when we reached Tayamaan. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to the beach area because of the water which made it hard to pass through and it also started to rain the moment we got out of the car.

Our next stop was Vista del Mare. Vista del Mare was located at the back of the Mamburao airport. We were informed that PAL planes used to land there. But when RORO was introduced, plane trips were stopped since planes were too pricey compared to taking the RORO. There were some planes at the airport but these were private planes.When we got at Vista del Mare, we asked permission from the owner to allow us to take pictures of their resort. The owner agreed. She was a kind old lady. Vista del Mare looked great for a place to stay during the summer. They had 4 pools and lots of cottages. These are the different views at Vista del Mare. It could have been great if the weather was good.

Before heading back to Manila, our contact person suggested that we take the Montenegro line instead of Baleno line for safety purposes as the ships of Baleno are already old. We also learned that the ship we saw the night before that looked like it has crashed at the port was a Baleno ship. So with that in mind, we headed to the Abra de Ilog port. We were supposed to buy some snacks along the way since the trip would take a long time. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a good place to stop over to buy some food. We reached the port without any luck. Since I didn’t have a choice, I just went to the Anjanna Restaurant just outside the port gate and bought some sandwiches for me and my driver. Their sandwiches cost Php90-130 each. Overpriced but I had no choice.

At the port, the same fees were charged to us. There, we got a better look at the ship that crashed. What bothered me was the sea’s current that can be seen when the water crashes with the ship.

The line of cars waiting to board the ship

Abra de Ilog

The ship that crashed. Just look at how the water run against the ship!

That's our ship!

Entering the ship

Seats at the passengers' area

The ship left Abra de Ilog port around 5:30 PM and we arrived in Batangas port around 8:15 PM and reached Makati by 10PM.

Home at last! Thank you Lord!

Time to finish my blog on my Korea experience.

Exploring Thailand: Bangkok

2012-06-26T23:42:00.001-07:00

April 24, 2012

Bangkok Thailand: One of the beautiful cities I've seen.

Before I detail our experience in Bangkok, let me share how we got there from manila: the budget-friendly way.

The flight we were able to book departs from Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark. So we had to think of a way to get there from Makati without spending so much. An option was to take the Philtranco bus from Pasay which would directly bring us to the departure area of the airport. This would cost around Php400.00 each. However, since we were tight on our budget, we chose to commute to get to DMIA from Makati. From Makati, we rode the bus to get to Victory Liner in Cubao (Php 25.00). From Cubao, we rode the Victory Liner Bus (Php 139.00 each) and got off at Dau Terminal. From there, we walked past Chowking to get to the highway where we rode a jeepney (Php 8.00) going to SM Clark. We had an early dinner at McDo and bought some groceries as supplies. From SM Clark, we walked a few meters to where the "airport shuttle jeepneys" are parked. We had two choices, one was to ride a jeepney for Php12.00 each but would have to walk around 900 meters to get to the departure area of the airport or to pay Php 250.00 for the whole jeepney and would be dropped off at the departure area. Being tired from walking, we chose the Php 250.00 since a guy was willing to share the cost with us, that made is Php 50.00 per head. If we were lucky, the jeepney would be full. Unfortunately, we were the only ones there. The ride took around 20-30 minutes before we got to the airport. As compared to taking the Philtranco bus, our choice helped us save roughly Php180.00.

Some of the airforce men jogging at Clark Freeport

When we got inside the airport, we fixed our stuffs first and had to exchange peso to Thailand Baht. We chose the Veterans Bank stall since it was cheaper. We only exchanges a few thousand pesos to get us through our first day in Thailand. Wrong move! Since our money was in peso, we had a hard time looking for money changers in Thailand. We should have listened to our manager when she told us to bring dollars instead of peso.

Anyway, after re-packing, we checked in and paid the International Tax (Php 1620.00) and Terminal Fee (Php 600.00). In the immigration, I was almost not allowed to pass through because I presented my PRC ID instead of my company ID since I left it in Manila. Fortunately, my friends had their IDs and the consul just reminded me to always bring my company ID with me.

New Terminal Fee at Clark International Airport

We had to wait at the pre-departure gate for around an hour before the boarding gates were opened. It would have been nice if there was free wi-fi at the waiting area.

And finally...... Thailand, here we come!!!

Just landed. Time check: 11:00 PM

Since we didn't book a room for our first night, we had to spend the night at the airport. At first it was awkward, but since we were so sleepy and know that we had to reserve our energy for the next day's activity. There were two (2) other Filipinos with us who also slept at the airport.

We woke up around 5am and freshened up. After cleaning ourselves, we then rode the shuttle to the bus terminal and looked for the van 522 that connected Suvarnabhumi Airport to the On-Nut sky train station via Bangna-Bangpakong Road and got off at the On-Nut Sky Train Station. At every floor level of the airport, there is a designated area where the airport shuttle would pick up those who would like to go to the terminal. From the train station, we had a long walk and had to ask a lot of people before we finally got to our hostel, Madee Hostel.

Welcome to Thailand!

Madee Hostel (let me include my review of the hostel here) The hostel is a bit hard to find since it was along the residence areas. It was a very long walk from BST On-nut Station. But thanks to the kind people whom we asked, we were able to reach it.

We arrived at the hostel around 8AM hoping we could leave our stuffs and officially start our tour. But there was no one there when we arrived. We had to wait outside for about 30 minutes before we got the idea of calling the number in the note through a payphone located at the corner of the block. We had to wait for about 15 minutes before someone came and opened the door for us. Though we were disappointed, we did not let this ruin our vacation. It's a good thing the rooms are clean.

Since we leave the hostel very early and arrive late, it was an advantage that they provide access cards to the main door. Though we can enter the hostel without a receptionist, it would have been better if there was someone there who we can ask for tips and directions on how to get from one place to another. Hope they can improve on this.

They provided us blankets which we did not use in our first night because we thought those were towels. It turned out those were blankets and the note they had in our room was to warn guests not to use the blankets as towels. ^_^

We only got the chance to ride their "shuttle" on our first day there since the receptionist was there. After that, we did not see the "shuttle" anymore. haha. Looks like we had to walk to the station.

On our way to the Bangkok to-see in our itinerary, we passed by the train station (where trains to other provinces are) that looked like a stadium. Too bad we didn't get the chance to see how their train station looked like.

Train Station

Another attraction we passed by was the Democracy Monument. It was nice to see but we didn't bother to stop by and take pictures. So when the taxi passed by, I managed to take this picture of the monument.

Democracy Monument

Here's something about the Baiyoke Sky Train which was one of our mode of transportation in Bangkok:

***When I was planning our trip to Thailand, I did not consider the fact that train fares change according to distance so our budget for transportation exploded. Haha. But that's okay since it was very convenient to go to and from places in Bangkok using the skytrain. I was surprised to see that there was an option in the ticket machine with a fare of zero Baht. When I checked the fare matrix, there was a note that said trips from On-nut Station to Bearing Station are free. Nice!

There were times when it was really crowded and times when we were able to sit. In the morning, they were even giving away newspapers in the station (though it was all written in there language). The time interval for waiting was short which is good.

But if there are 4 people travelling (like us), I would recommend you take a taxi (35 Baht flag down) instead since the fare is almost the same. The train fare for the nearest station would cost 15 Baht and an additional 5 Baht for the next station after. So if the 4 people would need to go to a place which is 4 stations away, the train would cost a total of 100 Baht. But if they took a taxi, it would have costed them around 60-70 Baht.***

Baiyoke Sky Train

Our Bangkok Tour began with a trip to Bobae Market to buy some souvenirs before we head home at the end of the day. This was not part of the itinerary so I had to research on how to get there from our hostel. I usually use google maps for this kind of research. Unfortunately, the directions I got was not accurate. We ended up taking a taxi to get to the market. It was a good thing we were able to find the souvenirs we wanted at discounted price. The whole shopping time took us more than an hour. That's more than an hour less to visit the sites in Bangkok. To catch up with our budgeted time, we took a taxi to the Grand Palace.

Grand Palace:

The taxi dropped us off the street accross the main entrance so we had to cross the street before we reach the Grand Palace. The picture below showed the view that welcomed us:

Welcoming view of the Grand Palace

We had to walk a few meters from the main gate to get to the ticket booth. Each ticket costs 400 THB. This was so worth it. It stands up to its name. There were so many beautiful buildings inside. The details of the walls were so majestic! A tour around the whole Palace area would take half a day to be able to appreciate the place. This is very tiring since the only way to tour the area is by walking. They do have resting areas all over the palace with free drinking water. We were a little disappointed to find out that the king and queen were not staying at the Grand Palace anymore. Nevertheless, the place was fantastic!

Grand Palace - details

Food:

After the tiring walk around the Grand Palace, we had lunch at the best restaurant we've been so far. It is just across the Grand Palace. The food there taste super great and the price is very affordable. They have rice meals that cost around 60-70 Baht. They also have green tea for as low as 5 Baht each.

I recommend this place to all those visiting the Grand Palace. Though the place is not that big, the food and price will compensate for that.

Krisa Coffee Shop

After the delicious lunch, we took a tuk-tuk (the trycicle version of Thailand) to get to the port. We paid 3 Baht each to be able to ride the ferry to the island where Wat Arun is located.

Ferry to Wat Arun

Wat Arun

This is one of my favorite places I've seen all over Thailand. The beauty of the temple is just so unique. Entrance fee cost 50 Baht each - so worth it. A climb up the temple is a challenge due to the steep and narrow stairs. When we got there, only a few had the courage to climb up the stairs. Three of us went up to have a view from the top. From there, a part of the Grand Palace can be seen along with the port, temple of the reclining Buddha and some infrastructures.

Wat Arun

Sky Baiyoke Hotel (Rotating Deck)

After spending an hour at Wat Arun, we went back to the main island via the same ferry. At the port, we were able to see other affordable souvenirs which we couldn't resist to buy. After spending almost all of our individual pocket money, we decided to head to the Baiyoke Sky Hotel for the view of Bangkok. To get there, we took a taxi as advised by almost all the people we asked. We had a hard time looking for a taxi since all the taxi asked that we pay a flat 200 Baht and that they would have to drop us first at a jewelry shop before we are dropped at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. After 4 taxis of the same condition, we decided to bargain with the next taxi that would come. Luckily (not!), the driver of the next taxi agreed to take us to the Hotel based on the taxi meter but would have to take us to the jewelry shop first. We agreed to this since he explained that they would be given gasoline discounts if they bring customers even if the customers will not buy anything. However, since it was almost 5PM, the driver said that the jewelry shop was already closing and that we will not make it due to the traffic. He then said that he will take us directly to the Hotel for 200Baht. We protested and asked that we be dropped off right then and there. So we got out and just paid the driver 50Baht. We got ripped off!!! After all that reading about avoiding these kinds of scams. But we didn't let this ruin our day. We took another taxi and were lucky that the driver was an honest person. We arrived at Baiyoker after around 20 minutes and paid a little bit over what was shown in the taxi meter as a way to thank the driver for not ripping us off.

The Baiyoke Sky Hotel entrance fee to the observation deck was 300 Baht each. They have an elevator that takes a maximum waiting time of 5 minutes to load the next batch of passengers. The highest level for the elevator is the 77th floor. A miniature of the Hotel would welcome the guests once they come out from the elevator. The view from this floor was also breath-taking since we were able to see the buildings around the hotel. Aside from the view, there were also some displays in the floor which could attract the attention of visitors.

We had to take the stairs to reach the revolving deck. It took the deck twice to revolve before we got off since the view was just the same.

Baiyoke Sky Hotel Ticket

View of Bangkok

Part of the entrance fee we paid was a complimentary drink with choices of coca-cola products. We drank this, rested for awhile and decided to order fastfood and just take our dinner at the taxi.

In front of the Baiyoke Hotel was some sort of bazaar that sold cheap but quality clothes. We stopped by some of the stalls to see their goods and headed to the mall next to it. We bought McDonalds at the mall in front of the hotel and took a taxi back to our hostel. We had a hard time talking with the driver since he don't speak english. He had to call someone and asked that we tell the person on the other line where we want to go and he was the one who told the driver where to bring us.

When we reached our hostel, the receptionist was waiting for us to get our stuff. We asked her to talk to the driver and instruct him to bring us to the airport. After agreeing, the driver took us to the airport. On our way, we passed by animal statues. The driver then started talking to us. We then realized that he was trying to teach us how they call the animals we pass by. The first was the elephant - Chang. Everytime we pass by an elephant, we would then say Chang and he would smile and repeat chang. It was until we already know how the elephant, goat, bull and pig are called in Thailand. It was then our turn to teach him english. He appreciated that and whenever we saw animals, we would tell the names in Thailand version and he would repeat these in english. It was a nice and great way to end our Thailand experience.

Our taxi to Madee and the airport

At the airport, we spent our last Baht to buy Chang keychains as a remembrance of Thailand and the taxi driver we met. And finally, it was boarding time.....

Oh Thailand, it was tiring but soooo worth it. Hope to see you again.

Back in the Philippines, we arrived around 3:30 AM at Clark Internation Airport. At the arrival area, a jeepney driver was waiting for passengers. He was carrying a sign board with Php 50.00 written on it. That was cheap and convenient so almost all budget travellers rode the jeep. It had a stop over at SM Clark before it went to its terminal near Dau Terminal where we rode the bus back to Manila.

Vacation was so over. *sad*

Next stop, South Korea!!!

Exploring Thailand: Pattaya

2012-06-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

April 23, 2012

We woke up late on our second day. We took the BST to get to the bus station where the bus for Pattaya is. The bus cost 90Baht. We had to wait for 20 minutes since we were late, the next bus to Pattaya was scheduled to leave at 8:30AM. We were so excited when we saw our bus. When we got on the bus, we asked the driver and conductor to drop us off at the floating market. The ride took us almost 3 hours because we were caught in traffic and the people were getting on and off the bus.

Our bus going to Pattaya

Floating Market:
When we got off the bus, we were greeted by this:

Welcome to the floating market

We were super excited to see the famed Floating Market of Thailand. But we were disappointed to see that the floating market we saw was not the one we see on postcards. We were too late. Most of those selling in their boats were already gone. Sad. But we did not let that ruin our day. It was still the floating market anyways.There was no entrance fee to get inside the floating market. But the lady at the "front desk" gave us a sticker to put on our clothes to indicate that we were foreigners and are entitled to some discounts. There were so many things to buy. From clothes to souvenirs to fooooooooooooooooooooooooood!

"Front Desk"

Yummy shell

One of the few we saw selling from their boats

Cheap lunch at the Floating Market

Ripley's Believe it or not
From the floating market, we rode a "taxi", a pick up car, going to Ripley's Believe it or not. The taxi cost 250Baht for the trip. At first we thought it was expensive, but when we saw how far it was, we changed our idea. At Ripley's, we saw lots, and I mean lots, of Caucasians. We wondered where the tourists where and found out that they had been here all along. There were Caucasians everywhere! I've never seen so many of them in one place. Can't blame me. I'm Asian. :-) This is also the area where they are money changers everywhere! But since this is a tourist spot, the rates are low. Up to the tourist to exchange there or go somewhere else for better rates.

For Ripley's Believe it or not, we took the package that allowed us to see 3 attractions for 890Baht each: Ripley's Museum, Infinity Maze and the Wax Museum. We first went to the museum. As expected, there were displays that showcased the most unbelievable things in this world. The Infinity Maze was lovely. The idea was to have mirrors as the walls and the get to another room, you'd have to find your way out using your hand. They provide gloves for hands and feet as protection. There were rooms with beautiful lighting. Unfortunately, they do not allow pictures to be taken while inside the maze. This was a quick 15 minutes fun. The last attraction we took was the wax museum. We did not know some of the personalities there since they were local celebrities. They had Jacky Chan, Yao Ming, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the entrance. Inside, they had Britney, Princess Diana and her sons, Rain, Obama, and more. When we were done with all three attractions, we got at the back of the building to look for a means of transportation going to Mini Siam, the next attraction in our itinerary. We were lucky to find the "taxi stand". They offered to take us to Mini Siam for 250Baht but we were able to lower that to 220Baht, the difference was not that big but atleast it was a little cheaper. On our way out of the area, we saw s strip of white sand. That explains the number of Caucasians around..... Mini Siam, here we come!

Our taxi going to Mini Siam

Mini Siam

The mini siam is like the Windows to the World in China, only smaller. Entrance fee for this attraction is 300Baht. The first part of the area focuses on the structures that represents each country. They have the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, Coliseum, Cathedral, Singapore Lion Head, and lots of castles & palaces. The other part of the area focused on the structures that can be found in Thailand. Through this, we were able to see the other structures which we missed during our visit to Ayutthaya and Bangkok due to the limited time.

They lend umbrellas to visitors for free since the area is in the open right under the sun.

We were able to see all the structures in about 1.5 hours. It is tiring to roam around the area but it was amazing to see the little structures they made. The structures here can be a basis of the places you want to see in Thailand and in the world.

Thailand

Paris

India

Rome

Thailand

England

USA

Thailand

Egypt

Bottle Museum

The bottle museum was just across Mini Siam. It was already 5:00PM when we arrived. Their closing time was 5:30 and we were not sure how to get back to Bangkok from there. So before deciding if we'll still enter the museum, we asked for the possible means of getting back to Bangkok after their closing time. The staff there and the owner were so helpful that they even called a mini van heading for Bangkok to pick us up around 6PM. With peace of mind that we have a ride back to Bangkok, we decided to enter the museum. The entrance fee cost 200Baht each while the mini van offered to us cost 100Baht each, not bad. The first part of the tour was an orientation on how the structures inside the bottles are created. They made us watch a recorded video on the steps to create those beautiful items. Making those in the displays were not easy. It takes time and so much patience to complete a masterpiece. After the video, they gave us a little token then escorted us to the first of three exhibit rooms. It was amazing! The displays were so beautiful. And the thought that it takes months to complete one structure inside a bottle made them more special. There were different Asian houses, temples and palaces in the displays; the usual ships and some European structures are also there. My personal favorite were the Philippine houses and palaces. I appreciate every single display because of the details of the structures. Here are some of the displays they have:

Since we we entered the museum at almost closing time, the staff extended their stay until we leave. When we were done, the mini van was not yet there so the owner asked that we stayed at the nearby 7-11 for free aircon. Haha. It was a little past 6 when the mini van arrived. We really appreciate the owner of the bottle museum for her kindness. She didn't leave us until our mini van picked us up. The ride took almost 2 hours and we got out at the van terminal in Victory Station. From there, we rode the BST station to get back to our hostel and called it a night. This trip to Pattaya was so worth it!

Exploring Thailand: Ayutthaya

2012-06-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

April 22, 2012

Ayutthaya Adventure

From our hostel, we walked to the on-nut station and headed for Hualamphong Station for the train going to Ayutthaya. When we were walking from the BST Station to the train station, someone approached us and offered us a deal: a taxi will take us to Ayutthaya and will be our means of transportation throughout Ayutthaya. At first we did not want to take the deal since it costs 2000Baht. But after realizing that there was no train available that would allow us enough time to travel the area, we yielded to the offer but not after it was agreed that she gave the deal at 1500Baht. It took us around 1 1/2 hour to get to Ayutthaya.

First stop: Elephant Village.
When we arrived at the area, a lady greeted us and showed us the packages they have. When we asked for the price, she said that a 30 minutes ride around the area would cost 1000Baht per person. I was shocked since from what i read, it would cost 1000Baht for two persons and that there was a 10 minutes ride for only 200Baht per person. However, this was not the case. At first, we were contented on taking pictures of the elephant though it was part of our to-dos that we will ride an elephant. When the lady saw how disappointed we were, she agreed to allow us to ride the elephant for 10mins for 250Baht. It was not what we budgeted but atleast it was cheaper than the first offer; we just wanted to ride the elephant and have pictures of us riding them anyways. Our elephant guides were also nice. They allowed us to sit at the back of the elephant and volunteered to take our pictures. At the end of the ride, before we arrived at the "loading/unloading" area, they asked for tips. I think this was usual in Thailand. We expected that the elephant smell would be so nasty. Good thing it was not as bad as we expected.

First elephant we saw

Shot taken by our elephant guide

Since this was already past lunch time, we asked our driver to bring us to a restaurant for a quick lunch before we start with our temple tours. He brought us to the restaurant in front of Wat Ratchaburana. At first we were hesitant to eat there but we had no choice. But when we saw their food and when we tasted the food, we were glad we ate there. The food was authentic Thailand cuisine and it tasted so good. Thumbs up!

See foods

Shrimp

After eating our lunch, we were ready for our "Temple Hopping" tour.

The first temple we visited was Wat Ratchaburana since it was the nearest from where we ate. The admission cost 50Baht per person. We were so excited since this was the first temple we visited. The temple was a beautiful ruin. We went up the temple for a view of the whole place. It was okay. There was a very steep stairs inside the temple. One of us went there and saw paintings in the wall. That was basically it.

Before heading for the next temple, we asked the driver to take us to the nearest money exchanger since our Baht was almost gone. It was a big mistake not to bring US dollars with us since we expected that it would just be like Hongkong that has money changers everywhere that accepts Philippine peso. So he brought us to Wat Yai Chaimongkhon that has a reclining buddha. Unfortunately for us, the money changer there do not accept Philippine peso. Oh well. Off to the temple after paying 20Baht each. This was my favorite temple from those we visited since there were so many things to see there. We even got the chance to offer our prayers. The admission fee was cheap compared to what the place has to offer.

Reclining Buddha


One of the favorite photo spots of visitors

Shoes off

View from the top

Lighting wicks submerged in oil

Inside of a temple

This wax was so good. It really looked like a real person sitting there

The next temple we visited was Wat Maha That. One ticket costs 50Baht. They were selling key chains at the ticket booth at 10 pcs for 100Baht. It was a bargain. Wat Maha That was also ruins of temples. The tourist attraction here is the head of the Buddha stuck at the trunk of a tree. I was told that flood in 2011 reached the Buddha head. The whole area was beautiful. It was good that Thailand was preserving these temples. Though I wondered how beautiful these places were when they were newly built. It must have been so great!

Part of the ruins of Wat Maha That

The Buddha head

Beautiful Ruins

After witnessing the Buddha head stuck on a tree, we headed to Phra Mongkhon Bophit.The temple was so beautiful. It was not a ruin too! Inside was one of the largest bronze Buddha in Thailand. But that was it.

Phra Mongkhon Bophit

One of the largest bronze Buddha in Thailand

Before heading back to Bangkok, we tried these ice cream for only 10Baht each. These tasted so delicious after a tiring day.


Yummy ice cream

When we arrived in Bangkok, we asked the taxi driver to drop us off at the On-nut BST Station. We had dinner at the mall beside the station, bought some groceries for the next days and headed back to the hostel for the free wi-fi and to rest.

Conquering Batad (Ifugao)

2012-04-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

April 8 & 9, 2012

Me, my bestfriend and another friend decided to visit the Batad Rice Terraces which was said to be better than the famed Banaue Rice Terraces. We were supposed to stay at Batad for the night since the walk to and from the rice terraces would be exhausting. However,we arrived in Banaue around 4PM of April 8, 2012, the rain was pouring hard and we were advised by the people at the information booth not to push through with our plan to go to Batad that afternoon. Since we were already there and to compensate the disappointment and ruined plan, we decided to go to the viewing deck of Banaue to admire their rice terraces. Though they say that it was not as good as it was before, I stilled admired the view. We stayed at Banaue Homestay which charged us Php400.00 per person per night. The staff was nice and very friendly. And she was the one who rented a jeepney to take us to Batad the next day.

The beauty of Banaue Rice Terraces

After a restful night, we woke up around 3:00AM and departed from Banaue around 4:30 in the morning via the jeep our inn rented for us (Php2500.00 for the trip to and from Batad). We had a stop over by the hanging house, took some pictures and continued our way to the Saddle Point.

View from the Hanging House

We arrived at the Saddle Point around 6:00AM. This is the farthest place any car can take a tourist. So we really had no choice but to walk. We took some pictures from the view deck before heading down to Batad.

Saddle Point View Deck

At around 7:20AM, we were able to reach the Batad Tourist Information Center where we had our names registered and gave a donation for the restoration of the Batad Rice Terraces.

Seeing this sign made us happy... We're almost there!!!

After having our names listed, we made our way to Tappia falls passing through the Batad Rice Terraces which we first viewed when we were at the information center.

The beautiful Batad Rice Terraces

We arrived at the Tappia Falls around 8:20AM. But we had to walk through not-so-steady rocky ground before getting there. We had to climb up and down the terraces, pass by an area where rocks were literally falling and make another climb up and down mountains to reach the falls.

My best friend climbing down a terrace

Here are some of the areas that we passed by to reach the falls:

Watch out for the falling rocks

This is one of the most dangerous area we had to pass

Rocky path

Have no choice but to walk pass through this

Big steps to and from the Tappia Falls

We were lucky to since we were able to see 2 rainbows near the falls. We took some pictures and swam in the cold water. This felt so good after walking for more than 2 hours. The tired feeling disappeared and we just enjoyed the beauty of the falls. Since we were warned not to go under the falls, we were contented on staying at the side.

Awesome view of Tapia Falls

Tapia falls from the resting area

Afterwhich, we swam at the area near the riverview restaurant. After dipping in the cold water for almost 2 hours, we headed back around 10:40AM.

River beside the restaurant

We were able to reach the first resting area which has the sign "Warning!!! Falling rock 200 meters ahead" at around 10:55AM. We rested for a while and went on our way. We passed by another 3 resting areas before getting to the store that sold shirts with the words "I Survived Batad" for Php 140.00 each. From there, we reached the information center at around 11:45AM. There were stores in the area that sold Batad Shirts for Php170.00 to Php200.00 each.

From there, we arrived at the first resting area around 12:15 and met a Chinese guy who was on his way up to the Saddle Point. He asked to join us since there's no assurance that he can catch a ride from the Saddle Point back to Banaue. We passed by other resting areas and arrived at the last stop over around 12:45PM.

The last resting place before reaching Saddle Point

When we reached the foot of the steps up the Saddle Point, we were given the choice to climb up the stairs or take the longer path which did not involve any stairs. The three of us took the stairs and counted the number of steps before reaching saddle while the Chinese guy took the easier path. After 419 steps, we finally arrived at the Saddle at around 1:15PM. The Chinese guy arrived 15 minutes later saying he took pictures along the way :D

We headed back to Banaue around 1:30PM and arrived at our inn around 2:25PM.


Our rented jeepney to and from Batad

The whole week after this adventure was like torture. I had a hard time walking due to the muscle pain. I had to take in painkillers and apply some ointment to be able to report to work. Haha. So for those planning on conquering Batad, better be physically fit. I assure you, the view and experience is worth the pain. ^_^

Next adventure..... Thailand!!!

Cebu Escapade

2012-04-10T17:01:00.003-07:00

March 20, 2012

Finally! I can cross Cebu in my "to-go" list... haha... Target places to see: Marian Hills in Simala, Magellan's Cross, Basilica del Santo Nino, Fort San Pedro and Taoist Temple...

To start the day, we got up around 4AM and got ready for the long day ahead... To get to the Marian Hills, we took the bus from the South Terminal... The aircon bus costs Php70.00 for the supposedly 2 hours ride.

Airconditioned bus to and from Simala

We left the terminal at around 5:40AM and arrived at Simala at exactly 7:00AM where we were greeted by lots of habal-habal and tricycle drivers... We decided to take the habal-habal for experience at a cost of Php20.00 each... Kuya Philip was our driver... We arrived at the gate of the hill around 7:20AM... The gate is opened at 8:00AM so we had to wait... But from the outside, we can already see how big the place is... It looks like a castle... super amazing...

The castle-like shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary

When the gates were opened, we hurried inside and saw this huge statue of Mamy Mary facing the Marian Hill... to get to the church, we could walk up the stairs or we could use the ramp to the back of the church which was easier... Inside the church, we prayed for awhile before going at the back part where we saw lots of cabinets filled with thanksgiving letter and testimonies...

One of the many cabinets filled with testimonies and thanks giving

At the second floor, there were all types of Marian images... they even have the Japanese and Korean version of Mama Mary... the whole experience was great... we had goose-bumps the whole time....

Museum at the back of the shrine

When we were done, Kuya Philip was at the gate waiting for us... We asked what other attractions were nearby and he suggested the restaurant in the middle of the sea and agreed to take us there... when we got there, we were amazed to see this restaurant in the middle of the super clean sea... we had fun walking through the bamboo bridge just to get to the restaurant... since we don't plan to eating there, they charged us Php5.00 each as a fee... We were able to see the fishes they have... not much though... but the view from there was nice... loving Mother Nature...

Restaurant in the middle of the sea

To get back to Cebu City, Kuya Philip dropped us off at the highway where we rode a bus back to the city... From the south terminal, we rode a jeepney and got off at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral...

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral

From there, we walked a few meters to the famous Basilica del Sto. Nino... I admire the beauty of this place...

Inside Basilica del Sto. Nino

Basilica del Sto. Nino

Beside the basilica is the Magellan's Cross... when we got there, i was like "This is it?"... It was a big disappointment... oh well...

Magellan's Cross

From here, we walked a few blocks to get to Fort San Pedro... after taking pictures, we rode a jeep to Tabaon Market to buy some dried fish...

Fort San Pedro

Then we rode a jeep going to Lahug... the smell of dried fish from the Tabaon market was stuck to us.. hahaha... we dropped off at the Sudlon and rode a habal-habal till we reached the gates of Beverly Hills Subdivision... since the habal-habal is not allowed to enter the gate, we had to walk till we reach the Taoist Temple... the place is similar to the Bell Church in Baguio... but this place is bigger... the worship area is not like the one in Baguio that has pews... Instead, the place was filled with the kneelers... they also have more wooden blocks... But the statues of gods in the Bell Church are bigger than those in Cebu... after praying, we went to the tope of the temple where we got a glimpse of Cebu... it was a nice view... before leaving the temple, we made a wish at the wishing well...

We were greeted by this dragon upon entering the area

The main building

We rode a taxi to Ayala Center where we bought some items and rode a jeep back to the dorm... since we were hungry, we decided to eat at the Thai restaurant just near the dorm... The food was great and affordable... After eating, we passed by a shop selling gelato and couldn't resist the temptation... haha... after satisfying ourselves with the gelato, we went back to the dorm to get prepare for our flight back to manila... Mission accomplished!

Bohol Escapade

2012-04-06T09:06:00.002-07:00

March 19, 2012

A week after my solo flight to Bohol, I came back with my dormmates, Ate Cha and Ate Aileen:

We left Cebu pier around 6AM and arrived at Port of Tagbilaran around 8:30AM (30 minutes behind the usual arrival time) where we where greeted by Kuya Ondoy, our driver and licensed tour guide. We knew he was our "sundo" since he was holding a coupon bond with "Charry Mina & Co." written on it. We were super happy to see that the car we'll be using is a newly bought Hyundai car... weeeeh!!! We couldn't resist taking pictures of our Bohol service... haha...

Our driver/tour guide: Kuya Ondoy with our service

And our tour officially started... Kuya Ondoy explained our itinerary and told us that we'll have to start with the farthest tourist spots such as the Tarsier and Hills... On our way there, we passed by the Baclayon Church, Butterfly Sanctuary and Ship House...

Tarsier Conservation Area - this was the first area we visited. At the entrance, we were oriented by one of the staffs that we have to keep quiet while inside the conservation area so as not to wake the sleeping tarsiers. Camera flashes should also be turned-off so as not to startle the little fellas. Before we entered the area, we had our pictures taken with Kuya Ondoy... hehe... Upon entering the area, we were greeted by the signs "No Flash while Taking Pictures" and "Silence Please" which were everywhere as a reminder to tourists... there were guides wearing white at every spot where there is a tarsier so it's easy for us to know where to go... we were so excited to see tarsiers... the first tarsier we saw was a bit sleepy... haha... but since it's our first time to see tarsiers, we tooks lots of pictures with it... they do look like a rat, only cuter... haha... after around 6 tarsiers, we decided to get our of the area since they all look the same and we just had our official picture taken and we were excited to see the outcome... Outside the area, we had our pictues taken with our face as a substitute for the tarsier's face.. haha... then we asked a couple to take our picture in the "Tarsier Conservation Area" sign... Afterwhich, we took the printed copy of our picture in the sourvenir area... When we looked and asked around, I noticed that the prices of the souvenirs are a bit higher than those in Hinagdanan Cave then we remembered that Kuya Ondoy said that he will bring us to the Hanging Bridge where the sourvenirs are cheaper...

Our first tarsier encounter

Man-made Forest - On the way to Chocolate Hills, we stopped over at the made-made forest... As explained by Kuya Ondoy, the man-made forest was termed as such since those Mahogany trees were planted by boy scouts of early times... There is an area from this long stretch of trees where it is best to take pictures... Ofcourse, Kuya Ondoy knows this and volunteered to take our pictures there... We had fun taking pictures here since we took pictures from the road and had to get out of the way whenever cars passed by... I love our jump shot here...

The man made forest

Chocolate Hills - on the way to the hills, we passed by some other hills that were not considered as part of the Chocolate Hills... Kuya Ondoy explained that there were 1200+ hills that had no trees on them and were part of the official Chocolate Hills... if the hills with trees would be included, the number would go up to around 1700+... before reaching the viewing deck, Kuya Ondoy explained that we had to climb a 200+ steps to see the famed Chocolate Hills at its best... we were dropped off at the bottom of the steps were tourist are dropped off and we had to take our service's plate number since there is no parking space in the area... all cars have this common parking space which is far from the vewing deck... when we'reare done, we could just inform the police in the dropped off area to call the service... and the climbing begins... it's a good thing there are viewing decks before reaching the top of the hill where we can rest for a few minutes before continuing with the climb... upon reaching the top, we were greeted with a large bell with a wishing well beneath it... the best view is behind the bell where some photographers offer to take pictures of tourist... i liked there idea where your picture will be taken as if your flying a broom stick over the hills... ofcourse, i did not miss this chance for my jump shot...

A glimpse of the world renowed Chocolate Hills

Ship house - this is a new attraction in Bohol... I first learned of this when it was featured in Rated-K... anyways, since this is new, this was not part of the itinerary that is usually offered to tourists... it was kind enough of Kuya Ondoy to allow us to see this place... A Php20.00 fee is collected upon entering the house... We were handed some captain's hat which I wore for the whole tour... haha... then a "Captain" guide greeted us and offered to tour us around the house... We were lucky to have him as our guide since he was so enegetic... We would go "Ma'am dito kayo picturan ko kayo sa labas... Ma'am dito dito picture kayo dito... Ma'am.........." haha... I think he took around 80 pictures of us... haha... For the house, it was a nice idea... It was like having a tour around a real ship... Our guide said that a ship captain had his house built like a ship and thus, theShip House which opened to the public on 2011... The ship house had a dining area, a Captain's Cabin, lots of crew cabin and ofcourse, the ship's deck which gives outsiders the idea that the house is a ship house...

Love ladies at the Shiphaus

Butterfly Sanctuary - Well, as the name implies, there were lots of butterflies and the likes... what we enjoyed here is the part where the guide would take our picture behind displays of butterflies and makes us look like we had wings! oh, we learned from the guide that just like humans, butterflies also have gays... when we asked how to know when a butterfly is gay, they said we just need to look at the butterfly's wings and check if they are of the same size... gay butterflies' wings are not even...

Butterfly displays

Hanging Bridges - the bamboo-made bridges lead to the souvenir shops that sells cheaper items as compared to those in the Tarsier and Chocolate Hills area... one bridge is used to cross to the other side and the other is used to get back to the road... while buying for some souvenirs, the rain started pouring and Kuya Ondoy had to bring us his umbrella and remind us that we need to hurry up for lunch at the Loboc River... it was so hard to cross the bridge since it was slippery... it was so nice to finally cross that bridge and get in the car... Lunch time!!!

Loboc River Cruise - On the way to where the floating restaurants were, it rained even harder... it's was a good thing we were already in the car... when we got to where the cruise begins, we were asked to wait for the boat that was assigned to us... we were also asked to fill-out a sort of registration form where we wrote our name, age and place of origin... a few minutes later, a lady from the group in front of us approached me and asked me a few questions regarding my family since when they saw my family name and place of origin, they immediately thought of my dad... I eventually met my aunt Jenelyn who was living in Michigan and only went to Bohol for a vacation... wow... what a small world... of all the places that I'll meet my aunt (Papa's cousin and brother's god-mother), it had to be in Loboc, Bohol... haha... We took some pictures together for me to have something to show to my parents... haha... Afterwhich, our boat came and we were asked to seat on the tables assigned to us as stated in the tickets that Kuya Ondoy handed us... Since it was past 1PM, everyone was hungry and went to where the food was... The buffet consists of pancit, some veggies, shrimps, crabs, barbeque, fried chicken, grilled lapu-lapu, some kakanin and lots of fruits... the drink is limited to one bottle of soda per person... while eating, we were seranaded by a band who took a break for us to watch a group on people on a bamboo flatform perform the Kuradang Dance... the ladies were wearing pink shirts and were playing their mini-guitar while the guys who wore black shirts, stayed at the back of the ladies and also played guitars... guests can sit in the middle of the group and borrow a mini-guitar and have their pictures taken with the group... for the much energetic guests, they can join the dance being performed... after the performance, we dropped our tip in the tip box and went back to the floating restaurant... the cruise had a u-turn upon reaching the Busay falls that are just a few meters high...

Our floating restaurant

Python - a cage houses the longest and biggest python in captivity, Prony. The lady who welcomed us said that the python was caught in the semetary near-by but was not as big as it is today... Outside the compound where the Python can be found, some vendors are selling calamay... Kuya Ondoy said this is one of the best calamay's sold in Bohol... and for a price of Php 100.00 for 3 large pieces, that is a bargain... Across the compound, guests can have a peek of the Pamilacan Island where dolphin and whale watching is a famous activity...

Prony the python

Blood Compact - This famous monument symbolizes the friendship established between Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Sikatuna, the then local chieftain... We just took pictures with the monument and a few pictures overseeing the Pamilacan Island... From the monument, tourists can see how beautiful the island is particularly its white sand...

Baclayon Church - This is one of the oldest churches in Bohol and can be found in Cesar Montano's home town, Baclayon... At the side of the church, just adjacent to the parking lot, Kuya Ondoy insisted that he take our picture... After which, he was so excited to show us the picture and kept asking us "did you see the face?" and we were like "what face?"... When we saw the picture he took, we were so amazed to see a bearded man's face in the wall... Kuya Ondoy said that the image in the wall is St. Pio... It was discovered when a tourist took pictures of the wall, they noticed the image and a devotee identified that the said image is St. Pio... We then headed inside the church... Since we were wearing shorts, we were given a cloth for covering before entering the church... inside the church, we prayed for a few minutes then went out to light some candles before going to our last stop...

The image of St. Pio

Hinagdanan Cave - Our last spot for today... This is not part of the usual Bohol Countryside Tour.... But since Kuya Ondoy is really nice, he agreed that we'll drop by the cave... Since I was here the week before, I already knew what to see... However, this experience was better since I had Ate Cha and Ate Aileen with me and our tour guide was really nice and funny... After taking pictures, Kuya Ondoy drove us back to the pier where we waited for our ferry back to Cebu... While on our way, Kuya Ondoy counted the spots we've seen and hoped that we enjoyed our tour... All we can say was "We love Bohol!" and we'll be back for the dolphin and whale encounters and other activities that Bohol has to offer...

Another glimpse of Hinagdanan cave

Back in Cebu:

We boarded the ferry around 5:30PM and arrived in Cebu pier at around 8:30PM... from the pier, we rode a taxi back to our place were we left our things... We then headed to the IT Park and had dinner at Casa Verde... Their specialty, Brian's Ribs, is superb! After a great dinner, we went back to our place and called it a day...

Alone in Panglao (Bohol)

2012-04-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

March 10, 2012

I love to travel. But I was only inspired to write about my travels when I read the article of Cebu Pacific's Smile magazine that featured the sole sisters who quit there job just to travel. This article motivated me to reach for my dream to travel the Philippines and most of Asia.

So here goes:

I was assigned for a one day solo field work in Bohol. Since I was already there, I wanted to explore the place on my own after my work. I planned days ahead on how to get from one place to another by commuting. But all that changed on the day itself when I asked the staff of the hotel I stayed in if my plan to tour Panglao Island was doable. When they learned that most of my transportation is via habal-habal (motorcycle), they all disagreed and convinced me to just hire a tricycle which is the best choice for a solo girl to take. This would also be an ease on their part since they could take the driver's information and contact number just in case something happens to their guest. The staffs were able to find me a tricycle driver who agreed to take me to the places I wrote down for Php500.00.

And so, the adventure begins...

First stop: Dauis Church and Miracle well

Dauis church (Our Lady of Assumption Church) is one of the oldest and beautiful churches in Bohol. A stairs at the side of the altar leads to the statue of the Lady of Assumption where devotees pray. A well, known for having healing water, is located at the front of the alter along the center aisle. It was covered with a glass when I saw it... Before leaving, there was a stall giving away water from the well for "free"... Though I had to give a "donation" first before the water was given to me..

Dauis Church altar

Next stop: Hinagdanan Cave

When we got there, I had to pay Php15.00 for the entrance fee and Php5.00 for the parking fee of the tricycle. When I got there, the whole town was experiencing a black out so our only light was from the big flashlight that the guide was holding and some candles lighted inside the cave. Luckily, the guide was kind and was taught on the camera settings that would be best for taking pictures inside the cave. The cave was discovered when the owner of the land uprooted a dead tree and saw that there was a cave underneath. As explained by the guide, the cave was called "Hinagdanan" because the original entry to the cave was through a "hagdan" (ladder) down a hole in the ground. Outside the cave were stalls of souvenirs which were cheaper compared to those sold in Island City Mall. Shirts were sold for only Php99.00.


Inside Hinagdanan Cave

Next in line: Panglao Church
Also known as the Church of St. Augustine, this church was worth the visit for its beauty. Aside from the main church, tourists also visit the place for the watch tower located behind the church.

Altar of Panglao Church

Next was Nova Shell Museum.
The sign was too small that we almost missed it. The museum is located at the back of the compound. A Php30.00 entrance fee is collected before entering the museum. Inside, you'd see all kinds and shapes of shells... Though one would think that this collection is complete, i was informed that of the 1700 species of shells, they only have 1000 in the museum and are still buying shells from fishermen.

Part of the shell displays

Then we went to Alona Beach for some pictures before we went to Dumaluan for more pictures. There was no entrance fee for Alona Beach, Php25.00 was however collected for Dumaulan beach. They were nice stretch of white beaches but it would be better if there weren't so many weeds in the shores. Comparing the two, I think Dumaluan is better. Alona was just overrated but that's where most of the foreigners go. Also, we were able to have a glimpse of Siquijor Island from the Dumaluan shores. Oh, and since I only wanted to take pictures, the guard of Bohol Beach Club allowed me to walk along their shores to take pictures.

Alona Beach

The beautiful Dumaluan Beach

Next stop was Bohol Coco Farm where all the plants are naturally grown. I paid Php50.00 for the entrance fee. I learned from the guide that pigs cried out alot because their feet gets tired of walking on cement in their pig pens. Just like how tired girls are after wearing hills. I tried their "skywalk" where you'd walk on bamboo-made bridges to get from one coconut to another. It was a nice experience.

View deck of Bohol Coco Farm

Final stop: Bohol Bee Farm. There was no entrance fee... Not much to see though... but the spicy ginger and malunggay icre cream (Php 60.00) is a must taste. They offer a free taste so you can decide what flavor to buy... They have a restaurant with a great view of the Mindanao sea. Didn't eat there since its way out of my budget. haha...

Bee Farm Ice Cream

That's basically what Panglao Island has to offer.

Total cost for the tour: Php 650.00 for almost 6 hours of tour which covered Dauis Church, Hinagdanan Cave, Panglao Church, Nova Shell Museum, Alona Beach, Dumaluan Beach, Bohol Coco Farm and Bohol Bee Farm. It was worth it.